November 1923

November 1, 1923 (Thursday)

Imprisoned steel industrialist Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach signed an agreement with the French government establishing conditions under which the Krupp mines in the Ruhr would resume work.

Estonia and Latvia signed a defensive treaty.

Finnish airline Finnair was founded.

Born: Victoria de los Ángeles, singer, in Barcelona, Spain (d. 2005); Gordon R. Dickson, science fiction writer, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (d. 2001)

November 2, 1923 (Friday)

Three Socialist members of the Gustav Stresemann cabinet resigned in protest of the government's refusal to curb the powers of the dictatorial regime in Bavaria.

The Reichsbank issued a 100 trillion-mark banknote.

David Lloyd George gave a final speech at the Metropolitan Opera House as he ended his tour of North America. Lloyd George defended the Treaty of Versailles as "the best treaty that could have been negotiated under the circumstances at that time" and said it was not the treaty that was responsible for the present problems of Europe, but "the completeness of the victory. It was the most complete victory that has almost ever been won in wars between great nations. Germany-Austria were shattered, demoralized, disarmed, prostrated; we left them like broken backed creatures on the road for any chariot to run over." He added that Europe must be given "the conviction that right is supreme over force. Who is to do it? There are only two countries on Earth which can establish that conviction, and those are the United States of America and the British Empire. Unless it is done, I do not know what is going to happen."

Born: Cesare Rubini, basketball player and coach, in Trieste, Italy (d. 2011)

November 3, 1923 (Saturday)

Crown Prince Gustav Adolf of Sweden married Louise Mountbatten at St James's Palace.

German President Friedrich Ebert refused the request of General Hans von Seeckt for dictatorial powers.

2 were killed and 150 injured in rioting as a result of the Victorian Police strike in Melbourne, Australia.

The New York Renaissance all-black basketball team played its first game, defeating a white collegiate team 28-22.

Born: Tomás Ó Fiaich, Catholic prelate, in Cullyhanna, Northern Ireland (d. 1990)

November 4, 1923 (Sunday)

Nationalist groups including monarchists and Nazis paraded in Munich during a memorial ceremony for war dead in which a corner stone was laid for a new monument. Crown Prince Rupprecht, Otto von Lossow and Eugen von Knilling were among those in attendance. Adolf Hitler plotted to use this occasion to launch a putsch by kidnapping the Bavarian leaders and declaring a revolution from the reviewing stand, but he abandoned the plan after seeing the large police presence on the scene.

The Australian government issued an appeal to fit men of military age to enroll as special constables as the Victorian Police strike entered its fourth full day. The strike gradually petered out with the hiring of these Specials.

November 5, 1923 (Monday)

A mob of poor and unemployed Berliners stormed the Grenadierstrasse and attacked Jews that they blamed for the high prices of food.

A plebiscite on prohibition was held in the Canadian province of Alberta. Prohibition was defeated with nearly 58% of the vote.

The trial of the assassin of Vatslav Vorovsky began in Lausanne.

Prominent Ku Klux Klan figure William S. Coburn was shot dead in his office in Atlanta by a member of a rival Klan faction.

Born: Kay Lionikas, baseball player, in New Brunswick, New Jersey (d. 1978)

Died: Lim Chin Tsong, 56, Burmese Chinese tycoon

November 6, 1923 (Tuesday)

The Kraków riot took place in Kraków, Poland.

Rioting and shop looting continued in Berlin.

November 7, 1923 (Wednesday)

The Imperial Conference approved a protectionist tariff plan that would give favorable treatment to Empire goods.

The Imperial Conference also accepted, in modified form, an American plan to thwart rum-running by British vessels. It would give the United States authority to search and seize British ships suspected of containing contraband alcohol within a certain proximity to American shores, while British ships in return would be allowed to bring liquor to American ports under seal when intended for outbound consumption.

November 8, 1923 (Thursday)

The Beer Hall Putsch began at 8:30 p.m. in Munich, Germany when Nazi leader Adolf Hitler burst into a beer hall where Bavarian government leaders were holding a meeting in front of 3,000 people. Hitler fired a pistol into the air, announced that the building had been taken over by 600 of his men and declared a new Bavarian government led by himself and Erich Ludendorff. After the top three Bavarian leaders (Gustav Ritter von Kahr, Otto von Lossow and Hans Ritter von Seisser) were taken hostage, Ludendorff was brought in to negotiate with them in a back room until they agreed to show their support for Hitler. Once this was done, Hitler was called away at about 10:30 p.m. to deal with some minor problem and the triumvarate said their goodbyes and left. When Hitler returned to find them gone he became suspicious of their sincerity, but Ludendorff said he trusted their honour as fellow officers.

The Imperial Conference ended with an agreement that Dominions would be allowed to sign their own treaties with foreign countries.

Born: Jack Kilby, electrical engineer and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 2005)

Died: John Davey, 77, tree surgeon

November 9, 1923 (Friday)

Gustav Ritter von Kahr reneged his support to Hitler, issuing a statement at 7:45 a.m. on behalf of himself, Lossow and von Seisser that their pledges had been extorted under duress and were "null and void".

With the putsch having stalled, Ludendorff led a hastily arranged 11:00 a.m. march with 2,000 men on the center of Munich, until police fired on the putschists and dispersed them. 4 state officers and 16 Nazis were killed in the gun battle. Ludendorff was arrested, but Hermann Göring and Hitler were among those who escaped.

The Nazi Party was banned throughout Germany.

David Lloyd George disembarked in Southampton and walked right into the fight on Stanley Baldwin's protectionist tariff policy, which Lloyd George called "an unutterable, unintelligible folly."

Born: James Schuyler, poet, in Chicago (d. 1991)

Died: Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter, 39, highest-ranking Nazi killed in the Beer Hall Putsch

November 10, 1923 (Saturday)

In a radio broadcast, former President Woodrow Wilson addressed the American people for the first time since he left the White House. He called it "shameful" that Americans had "turned our backs upon our associates and refused to bear any responsible part in the administration of peace", calling the country's isolationist attitude after the war "cowardly and dishonorable." "The only way in which we can show our true appreciation of the significance of Armistice Day is by resolving to put self-interest away and once more formulate and act upon the highest ideals and purposes of international policies", Wilson said.

Erich Ludendorff was released on parole when he gave his word that he would not participate in any more revolutionary activities. Reports circulated that he had committed suicide immediately thereafter.

Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany ended his exile in the Netherlands and crossed back onto German soil. Dutch authorities had informed him that he would not be allowed to return to Holland as a refugee again. Wilhelm went straight to Hanover and visited retired Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg.

November 11, 1923 (Sunday)

Bavarian police found Hitler hiding in the attic of the country home of his friend Ernst Hanfstaengl and arrested him.

Chancellor Gustav Stresemann said that the return of Crown Prince Wilhelm was a matter of internal policy and could not be refused.

November 12, 1923 (Monday)

The new flag of the Soviet Union was adopted. Its design of a solid red field with a gold hammer, sickle and star in the upper hoist corner would be used with only a couple of minor variations until the USSR's dissolution in 1991.

The historical drama film Under the Red Robe, starring Robert B. Mantell as Cardinal Richelieu, was released.

The drama film Flaming Youth, starring Colleen Moore and Milton Sills, was released.

Born: Charlie Mariano, jazz saxophonist, in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2009); Richard Venture, actor, in New York City

November 13, 1923 (Tuesday)

France agreed to allow for the appointment of an experts' committee to investigate Germany's capability to pay its reparations.

The Argonne Cross Memorial was dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery.

Born: Linda Christian, film actress, in Tampico, Mexico (d. 2011)

November 14, 1923 (Wednesday)

Germany suspended the payment of its reparations, explaining that France and Belgium had broken the Treaty of Versailles by occupying the Ruhr and that payment would not resume until they left.

General Hans von Seeckt ordered that after tomorrow, all Berlin cafés, halls and cabarets must freely admit the city's poor and cold in order to warm themselves. Failure to comply would mean the government would use the establishments exclusively as warming halls.

Died: Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover, 78

November 15, 1923 (Thursday)

Germany's hyperinflation peaked, at 4.2 trillion to the U.S. dollar.

Germany stopped printing the essentially worthless mark.

Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach was released from prison by the French.

California Senator Hiram Johnson announced that he would challenge Calvin Coolidge for the 1924 Republican nomination for president. Johnson, unlike Coolidge, was staunchly opposed to U.S. entry into the World Court.

Died: Mohammad Yaqub Khan, 73 or 74, former Emir of Afghanistan

November 16, 1923 (Friday)

British Parliament was dissolved as Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin called a snap election to be held in three week's time, explaining he wanted a mandate before implementing a new protectionist tariff policy.

A Swiss court acquitted Maurice Conradi of the assassination of Vatslav Vorovsky, angering the Soviet Union.

Benito Mussolini said in a Senate speech that "The Italian government cannot give its approval to any further occupation of German territory. One must have the courage to say that the German people cannot be destroyed. They are a people which has known civilization and which may tomorrow be an integral part of European civilization."

November 17, 1923 (Saturday)

24 were reported killed in food riots in the Ruhr.

Zev was awarded a controversial win over In Memoriam in a $30,000 horse race at Churchill Downs. Photographs and newsreel footage of the extremely close finish suggest that In Memoriam actually won by a nose.

Born: Mike Garcia, baseball player, in San Gabriel, California (d. 1986); Aristides Pereira, 1st President of Cape Verde, in Boa Vista, Cape Verde (d. 2011)

November 18, 1923 (Sunday)

The Parliament of Italy passed the Acerbo Law, automatically giving the first-place party in an election a two-thirds majority of seats as long as it received at least 25 percent of the vote. The remaining one-third of seats were to be shared among the other parties proportionally.

A parliamentary election was held in Bulgaria; the new Democratic Alliance won a majority of seats.

Born: Alan Shepard, first American astronaut, in Derry, New Hampshire (d. 1998)

November 19, 1923 (Monday)

Oklahoma Governor Jack C. Walton was convicted by the state senate on eleven charges of corruption and abuse of power and removed from office.

Born: František Sláma, cellist, in Herálec, Czecheslovakia (d. 2004)

Died: John Wesley Gilbert, 59, African-American archaeologist and professor

November 20, 1923 (Tuesday)

The German mark was pegged to the Rentenmark at a trillion to one, solving the hyperinflation crisis and returning Germany to the gold standard.

Born: Nadine Gordimer, writer and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2014)

Died: Rudolf Havenstein, 66, German lawyer and president of the Reichsbank

November 21, 1923 (Wednesday)

Frank Goddard defeated Jack Bloomfield at the Royal Albert Hall to reclaim the vacant British heavyweight boxing title.

Born: Big John Greer, blues saxophonist and singer, in Hot Springs, Arkansas (d. 1972)

November 22, 1923 (Thursday)

Stage performer Mabelle Corey was granted a divorce from industrialist William Ellis Corey in Paris court.

Born: Arthur Hiller, television and film director, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

November 23, 1923 (Friday)

Gustav Stresemann resigned as German Chancellor after losing a vote of confidence.

The Communist Party of Germany was banned following the Hamburg Uprising.

Born: Billy Haughton, harness driver and trainer, in Gloversville, New York (d. 1986); Julien J. LeBourgeois, vice admiral, in Southern Pines, North Carolina (d. 2012)

Died: Oscar Marx, 57, mayor of Detroit 1913–1918

November 24, 1923 (Saturday)

The Army–Navy Game ended in a 0–0 tie. 66,000 came out to watch the game which was played under muddy conditions at the Polo Grounds in New York City.

The new Governor of Oklahoma Martin E. Trapp came out in support of an act regulating secret organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan.

November 25, 1923 (Sunday)

German President Friedrich Ebert asked Heinrich Albert to become chancellor and form a cabinet.

Born: Mauno Koivisto, 9th President of Finland, in Turku, Finland

November 26, 1923 (Monday)

The comedy play Meet the Wife, starring Mary Boland, opened on Broadway.

Born: Pat Phoenix, actress, in Fallowfield, Greater Manchester, England (d. 1986)

November 27, 1923 (Tuesday)

Friedrich Ebert turned to Adam Stegerwald to become chancellor after Heinrich Albert was unable to form a government.

Born: Duilio Marzio, actor, in Buenos Aires, Argentina (d. 2013); J. Ernest Wilkins, Jr., nuclear scientist, engineer and mathematician, in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2011)

November 28, 1923 (Wednesday)

Adam Stegerwald notified President Ebert that he was unable to form a cabinet.

The David Belasco and Tom Cushing stage production Laugh, Clown, Laugh! opened at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway, starring Lionel Barrymore and Irene Fenwick. The play was adapted into a film of the same name in 1928.

November 29, 1923 (Thursday)

Wilhelm Marx accepted an offer from President Ebert to form a cabinet.

The German comedy film The Little Napoleon was released. Marlene Dietrich made her film debut in a small role.

Born: Frank Reynolds, television journalist, in East Chicago, Indiana (d. 1983); Wade Walker, American football player and coach, in Mocksville, North Carolina (d. 2013)

November 30, 1923 (Friday)

Wilhelm Marx became the new Chancellor of Germany.

Two committees were established to examine Germany's capability to pay reparations.

Died: Martha Mansfield, 24, American actress (toxemia and burns after costume caught on fire)